2H Class Blog!: Mar. 10th News

What a wonderful, jam packed week we had back to school! Coming off the vacation week, all of the Owls settled right back into our routine and were ready to work!

Highlights from our week:

*Iditaread: Our Iditaread is well underway! This past week, every musher has made significant progress on their reading journey towards Nome. I have been extremely impressed with each reader’s motivation in this challenge. Keep it up contestants! We’ve also been having a lot of fun closely following the real Iditarod race as those mushers make their way towards Nome as well. Our reading challenge continues until our last musher makes their way to Nome (just like the real race!) Just a reminder, students need an adult signature for each entry and need to turn their reading log in everyday (most have been doing a fantastic job with this!) Please help remind your child of the importance of reading every night. It has been so fun hearing what books are hooking each reader and helping them make their way to the finish line.

*Reading: In this unit, we will continue to "amp up" our reading power! This week we learned that one of the most powerful reading tools we have is.....OUR PARTNER! Students had the opportunity to choose the same book as their partner to practice using this great "tool". Later in the week, each reader was given an "Emergency Reading Tool Kit" equipped with a special pen and lots and lots of post-it notes. One strategy readers can use when they're stuck at a confusing part, or if they want to hold on to important information, is to "stop & jot" their thinking on a sticky note. We had a lot of fun practicing using our tool kits during various shared reading experiences.

Designating a "stopping spot" with your partner is the first step!

Then it's time for a book talk!

Next week, we will review all of the strategies we've learned this year. After creating individual goals, we will create "goal teams" to help each other reach our reading goals!

*Science Buddies: Thank you for sending in snow gear last week. I think I can speak for everyone when I say we were able to complete our most exciting engineering challenge EVER!! Working ALL together, 2H, 2D, and KMM teamed up to build an "igloo" that could house all 60 of us!! It was amazing how quickly our structure came together with all hands on deck! Take a look at their fabulous work!

It's going to be hard to top this design challenge, but we'll certainly try!! :)

*Scholastic Book Orders: March book order forms were sent home early last week. As always, Scholastic's full catalog is available online. Orders are due Monday, Mar. 18th.

*Leaner-Led Conferences: A MAJOR highlight this week (for me as well!) was the preparation we began for our Learner-Led Conferences! While it can be extremely difficult to identify our strengths and areas of growth, these Owls did a TREMENDOUS job owning their learning---they know themselves well! After brainstorming together, they then each wrote their own reflections and have begun creating a Google Slideshow to share with you. After just the first day or two working with Google Slides, these technology savvy kiddos can now independently sign into their Google account, open their slideshow, insert text and images, and have fun customizing the font color and style. Wow! I truly cannot wait for them to share their hard work with you!!

We'll work on finishing up our slides next week so they can begin rehearsing their conferences and be more than ready to share their learning with you! Be on the lookout for a SignUp Genius Link coming your way soon!